The Outsider’s Perspective: Working Inside a Family Business
Lori flies semi-solo this week — Vonda's away — and brings on her friend Mimi Pacheco, who handles marketing and communications at Jet Fresh Flowers. The two started this conversation at SAF, mid love-fest about their bosses and how lucky they are to work for family businesses, before they got interrupted. This episode finishes it: what it's really like to be the trusted non-family employee inside a family company — the pros, the cons, and the advice both of them wish every flower shop employee (and owner) could hear. It matters for this audience, because most flower shops are family businesses.
Falling for the family
Mimi came up through the industry the long way — a flower-food company owned by a Dutch family, years of trade shows where Mike and the Black family of Jet Fresh would help set up her booth before their own — until Mike asked why she didn't just come work for him. She wanted to learn the flower side from a company that wears every hat: grower, wholesaler, importer, distributor. And she fell hard, the way you do: "you fall for the family." Her father and grandfather were business owners, so family business is in her blood — including the painful part. When her father got sick, her sister ran his produce company, sales went up, shrink went down... and when he came back, he couldn't accept the change. Mimi carries that memory as a caution about ego, pride, and how hard parent–child succession really is. At Jet Fresh, she's watched the opposite: a big, established family that knows how to argue about business and still say "see you at the barbecue on Sunday." Titles don't matter much — Mike has never asked her to sweep the floor, but she's swept it, because "this is our house, so let's take care of it."
Keeping it professional when the boss is somebody's mom
Both women have adopted the same small discipline: don't say "your brother told me" or "your mom said." Mimi runs everything through Ryan, her direct manager, even though Mike keeps an open door — and when she consults Casey on marketing, she makes sure everyone knows the loop is closed. The language keeps things professional: "the general manager told me to do this," not "your dad." Lori confesses she catches herself constantly referring to Vonda as "your mom" when talking with Ellie, and it bothers her — because she wants them to know she treats Flower Clique as a business, not a place to play. The structure matters too: Jet Fresh runs a leadership team that meets monthly, with real managerial roles, because a family business still has to run like a business.
How to pitch an idea so they can't say no
For non-family employees wondering how to get ideas heard, Mimi's framework is about trust: show the family you share their common goal, and they'll want to listen. Don't ambush your manager over coffee with "we should build a playground." Write the idea down — put it in an email — and practice it, because the discipline of writing forces you to find the purpose and the why. (Or, as Lori notes, you'll realize halfway through that the idea was terrible, which is also a win.) Flower Clique uses a version of this: the PPP — the idea, the plan, and the payoff. If you can't answer all three, it goes in the trash. And the return doesn't have to be financial, but there has to be a return; "we just do things to do things" is how companies waste time and money. If you've done all that — well-thought-out ideas, brought respectfully, repeatedly — and leadership still shuts everything down? Then, both agree, it may be time to look elsewhere. You won't change them, and a business that fears change isn't going to succeed. As Mike tells Mimi: "I don't want to be the smartest person in the room." When you stop feeling purpose or trust at a job, it's okay to move on — and it doesn't mean leaving the flower world. Take your knowledge with you; there's always a spot for you.
The con nobody warns you about
The honest downside of loving a family business like your own: boundaries evaporate. Mimi pops in on Saturdays when it isn't her shift, has pushed through events sick, and has felt the burnout and the blood pressure to prove it. Lori owns the same thing — zero boundaries with Vonda and Ellie, a husband telling her to separate, and no interest in doing so. Their shared advice is to protect your health and your mental health, and to remember the bosses you adore are human: they can become idols, and idols can fall, which is where resentment starts. Lori's favorite frame for all of it: the world has ladder climbers and ladder holders, and both are necessary. She's a proud ladder holder — no desire to own a business, every desire to help Vonda and Ellie climb. Mimi's parting advice to anyone working inside a family business: do things with your heart and with intention — they notice. And if it's not a fit, don't be ashamed to say so, because somebody out there really wants to grow with you.
Key takeaways
- In a great family business, titles matter less than ownership mentality: it's everyone's house, so everyone takes care of it.
- Keep family language out of work conversations — "the general manager," not "your brother" — to protect professionalism.
- Pitch ideas in writing with the PPP test: the idea, the plan, and the payoff. If you can't answer all three, it's not ready.
- If leadership never listens to well-prepared ideas, you won't change them — and it's okay to move on without leaving the industry.
- Loving your work family is a gift; guard your health and boundaries so devotion doesn't curdle into burnout.